I don't know that there are too many,(a bit too many IMO) but I don't care how the kitchen lighting and dining area lighting do not relate to each other at all. The proximity of the dining lighting toward the left and the kitchen lighting to the right is really unesthetic. Same with the relationship of the over the counter lighting to the kitchen aisle lighting. Its all over the place: (some call this ceiling acne). Have him come up with a pattern for the whole ceiling.

This is what I thought I would do....but then I'm thinking that I should have some sort of light in front of the Fridge when I turn the kitchen lights on?

I don't think its necessary, because the fridge is lit inside. There are two ceiling lights that aren't too far away from the fridge.

I was told by several sources in my lighting research to be careful of putting cans in front of hoods cause you can get a wicked reflection off the hood if the light is directly in front of it.

Find out the canopy of light put out for each can (with the bulb you are going to use). Ours was 3'2" globe of light put out. You can then find out if your counters will have any dark holes.

I'm certainly no lighting expert, but if I could redo my lighting, I would not have 4" cans. I would definitely have 5 or 6" cans because then you can use higher wattage bulbs.

You certainly don't have too many lights, especially for 4" cans. My electrician recommended using 5" cans because the 4" ones can be hard to change bulbs in because your hand doesn't fit as well.

If I were you I would consider putting in a ceiling fixture over your table because it's going to be dark there without it and possibly some sconces on that left wall just to add some interest. I would also beef up the number of cans all over and put them on a dimmer if possible. I'm assuming you have under cab lighting - if you have only cans right now all your light will be coming from behind you when you work and there will be lots of shadows.

That looks about how we spaced ours, but ours are 6" cans.

I am not an expert on lighting but I think that the light over the range will create a shadow that will probably anoye you when working at the stove. A recessed light on each side of the range is much better...no shadows. Same thing with the light above the sink area (keep the one right above the sink). Push it to the left a little. In other words, make sure your lighting does not create unwanted shadows.
Good luch

Surely the range hood has lighting under it so that shouldnt be an issue.

I am assuming there is undercabinet lighting too.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! Yes, I will have undercabinet lights and the hood will have lights also. I forgot to put in the image, but we have a light fixture above the dinning room table, which has enough light right now for the dinning room.

But because we are taking down a wall between the dinning room and kitchen, the architect said I would need addiional lighting for the dinning area.

I will definitely look into using larger cans!

In my opinion, you really can't have too many lights. I would recommend 6" cans, though, as opposed to the 4". We have a 4" can over our sink, and the amount of light produced is nothing compared to the 6" cans in the ceiling. The trick is have a few different switches controlling different "groups" of lights. That way you can control how much light there is because sometimes you need less light than others.

Oh, and about bringing the wall cab above the DWasher down to counter:

I don't think it would give you enough counter space next to your sink area on that side. And with that lovely sink, you don't want to make it look cramped. If you want a little more space, what about a corner small thingy over in that 28" corner of the dining area? Glass doors on top? It could be different from the rest of your kitchen cabs.

Also, I'm thinking that passage way next to the fridge, if you are moving lights around, it could be very distracting for that light to be there, or at least to be there and NOT CENTERED. I hope it does not cause glare to whatever room that passageway leads to. If to the LR, would turning it on detract from the ambiance you seek for the other room?

I forgot something I meant to ask:

The french door fridge and that wall beside it, which is indicated as 33" deep. Is that going to be too deep for the door on that side to open back? I have a fridge about the same, and I know I can put a 24" cabinet on either side and the doors both swing out fully open, something like 120 degrees, not 180, but the wall depth being 33" might mean you have to move the fridge out a few inches more than you plan.

And, since that opening from the entry into the dining area is a big one, 90" from the wall not the front door, you could move that wall about 12" forward toward the front door, and put in a narrow rollout pantry there, instead of over your dishwasher. I know it is probably written in stone at this stage, but just a thought.

What is that area in the entry with all the parallel lines that is not identified? At first I thought it was steps down to the basement, and then maybe a coat closet, but nothing appears to be right for either of those options. Just wondering if was anything structural which would preclude giving a little space to the fridge alcove.

lol...yes those parallel lines are my feeble attempt to indicate stairs....it's going up to the second floor. : ) I won't be able to place anything below the stairs becase there's a set of stairs going to the basement right under them.

As for the fridge, I wanted to make sure that the wall hides the fridge completely, so the fridge won't be seen when you come in the front door...I am planning to have about 4in of space between the fridge and the wall..hoping this wil allow the door to open more than 90degrees...but thanks for the suggestion about a narrow pantry...I can def still make a change if I needed to.

I'm def. going with larger cans since everyone here said that 4in is not that bright.....and I LOVE light/bright spaces!! : )

Thanks everyone!

another opinion please....should I have a recessed light over the island? If we were to only to put 2 smaller pendants over the island...will there be enough light using the 2nd layout? expecially if we do use that space to do prep at times?

I took down a wall between the kitchen and dining room, but I never needed any extra can lights because of that. If anything, the dining area was brighter w/ the wall down. The fixture over the table was plenty (and no different than most eating areas).

I do like your second layout. Looks good to me!

Thanks! I was trying to figure out if I really needed the extra canned lights in the dinning room....then I thought..it couldn't hurt... : )

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

couple things that glare at me:
dining room needs decorative lighting, not can lights. Sconces framing windows or on the blank wall framing artwork should do the trick.

I also do not have any cans in the dining area with completely open kitchen. I do not need more lights. I think it makes the ceiling look better.

I would replace the light in front of the kitchen window with a decorative pendant light since it does not line up with any other cans. This way the pendant relates to all decorative lights in the space and ties the spaces together. Carefully chosen pendants can work well as a task light because the light is at a lower level and does not have to spread as much from its source.

The light between the frig and DW needs to relate to the hallway. Do you have cans in the hallway? If so, the light should line up (ie center of the hallway so that looking at the ceiling from the other end of the hallway looks okay) This will determine the placement of the light on the other side of the island.

I would put 2 small lights (4 inch cans) above the sink. This way, there are no shadows. If you have 8 ft ceiling, this will be fine. This will also define a separate work area and should be on a switch near the sink.

Most of the working light for the range is from the hood. Make sure you have good lights on your hood. Even if you have overhead/rear lights, they tend to cancel each other out. I actually think you don't need the can in front of the range (behind you when standing in front of the range). I have much less lights than you with 9 ft ceiling and I do not need more lights when I am in front of the range.

Because you have 3 different entrances to the kitchen, you should think carefully about where the switches go.

This will lead to:
dining pendant/chadelier
dining sconces
4 cans in the kitchen (each corner), hallway determining the position of the lower left on the digram. upper left on the diagram will follow from the hallway.
1 pendant in front of the kitchen window
pendants (2 to 3) for the island.
2 smaller cans for the sink

Thank you so much for all your suggestions...the canned lights in the dinning room was one of my headaches...I didn't want to not get them in case it does turn out that I needed extra lighting...but then, it doesn't line up with the kitchen lights, so I thought it may look bad...

I do not have have cans in the hall way, it's a short hallway that connects to the living room. So I should center it ... or maybe push it more towards the edge of DW?

We also considered maybe track lighting for the space in front of the window? Even with a pendant, would I put this light on a seperate switch? How would you space the light for the sink? on the edges of the sink or more towards the middle?

Thank you!!

Hmmm I realize that...
you have cabs above the sink. You may not need ceiling sink lights if you put good undercab lights there.... I am not sure about this one since I have never really worked at a sink with upper cabs.... The ceiling light has to go past the cabs without being cut off from them. I think the light from the ceiling will be shadowed by you standing between the light and the sink. Anyone else? You really want the sink light to have the source in front of you as you face the sink, which will be under the cabinet....

You CAN have too many can lights in the ceiling. It makes the ceiling look garish. Ceiling is a very important part of how the room shows because it is such a large surface area. Ceiling puckered with lights everywhere versus thoughfully placed lights where you need them, you can see the difference...

I would put the decorative light in front of the window on a separate switch. If you have not introduced track lighting to the house yet, I would not introduce a new element to the kitchen at this point. You have to relate it to something else in the house/kitchen/DR. If you want to go track lighting all over, then go for it.

PS: I put 4 cans plus center mounted light in my master bedroom a few years ago. Bad mistake... I should have stopped with the alabaster ceiling mounted fixture plus wall mounted reading lights at bedside. It was an overkill and the ceiling does not look good.

I actually think depending on your house, ceiling mounted fixtures that are designed to cast good lighting can be substituted for can lights. They are significantly more expensive, however.